Page 65 of Wild About You
My laugh is caught by his mouth on mine again. And I have to say, he’s on to something. Or the fictional sexy forest ranger is. But I’ll take this real-life, sometimes grumpy, always gorgeous partner of mine any day.
We kiss each other senseless. Kind of literally, as we both seem to forget where we are, what we’re in the middle of, that we’ve probably used up all ten camera-free minutes for this hour. The only thing that breaks us apart in the end is a loud wolf whistle and a shout of “That’s my boy!”
Finn’s head whips around, body still pinning me in place, and I peek over his shoulder to see Zeke in the distance at what I assume is the meetup spot, one victorious fist in the air. Next to him, Enemi looks characteristically displeased, smacking his arm.
“Zeke! Are you even trying to win? You shouldn’t have stopped them!” She stomps a foot, then turns and breaks into a jog. “Come on, we’ve got to hurry now.”
Zeke looks unrepentant, giving us a huge smile and double thumbs-up before he follows. Finn steps back, hands gently guiding me back to my feet as he gives me a rueful smile.
“Yeah, so we should probably get back to the challenge.” He pulls our envelope out of his pocket, starting to speed-walk backward and reaching up to turn his camera back on. “Last one there’s out of a hundred thousand dollars?”
My heart sinks, even as it’s still pounding from the thrill of being with him like this. “Do you really think we can catch up to them?”
Finn steps to the side, revealing that Evan is still standing at the meetup spot, no Harper in sight. “We don’t necessarily have to.”
My jaw drops. I would’ve thought surely we’d gotten sidetracked long enough for both of the other teams to get ahead. Even as I put my pack on, balling up the tent for Finn to stuff it in the bag, and start on down the trail, I worry about Harper.
But Evan gives us a friendly, if a little tired, wave. “Go on,” they call out. “Win it for us, okay?”
Finn and I start for the second to last checkpoint, jogging as fast as our newly reinvigorated bodies will allow, only stopping for a short break to catch our breath, drink water, and, okay, share another quick kiss or two. And when, a couple miles later, we run up to a gaggle of producers, a couple of cameras, and Burke Forrester to get the good news, we do so hand in hand.
Chapter Twenty-Five
I’ll get up, I think before I’ve even opened my eyes, just as soon as the boat stops rocking. It takes a beat for the follow-up thought to occur. Why am I on a boat?
I blink slowly, squinting against the bright strip of sunlight pouring through the gap in the red fabric overhead. And it all comes back to me in a rush.
It’s not a boat that’s been gently rocking me from side to side, but a hammock. Finn’s hammock, and our double sleeping bag, both of which we slept in together. Slept, but also cuddled, kissed, held each other, gazed up at the stars, gazed more at each other, kissed some more, too, and just…more. I smile as the images flash through my mind, feeling my cheeks flush. He really is an excellent kisser. A wonderful cuddler. And I’m obsessed with his hands—how they fit against mine, how he plays with the purple strands of my hair while my head is on his chest, how they quest and explore down my back, hips, everywhere else that’s never been touched with such care and reverence as he shows me.
It’s because of that care—how confident he makes me, with everything he says and does, that he is mine—that I’m not concerned he’s not in the hammock with me. This isn’t some shaky ground, what-happens-next morning after. Nope, it’s the day we see if we each win $100,000.
In other words, his ass isn’t going anywhere without me.
An unexpected perk of hooking up with someone while stranded in a forest together in singularly bizarre circumstances where both your futures are in each other’s hands. But even if we didn’t have that ahead of us today, I’d feel confident by now that Finn’s a sure thing.
When I eventually tumble out of the hammock with all the grace of a newborn giraffe learning what its legs are for, he still looks at me like I just fixed global warming, and I know I’m right to have that confidence. A smile that goes all the way to his eyes lights up his face. He’s crouched by the camp stove, and takes in my rumpled morning self with nothing but warmth and affection in his deep brown gaze.
“Good morning,” I say as I shuffle toward him in boots with the laces left untied.
“Morning.” Finn stands, arms outstretched to pull me into the sweetest embrace. I tip my chin up to meet his kiss, the minty freshness from his lips reminding me I haven’t brushed my teeth yet, nor done my skincare routine or applied a smidge of makeup. We did make a stop at another creek last night for a bit of swimming (him), hair washing (me), and an excuse to kiss out in the open with minimal clothing on (both), so I don’t feel as gross as I could. And he is so unconcerned it’s almost funny. The guy should have higher standards, bless his heart.
“Doing okay?” he asks as he pulls back and returns to whatever he’s up to with the stove.
“More than,” I answer, plopping down next to him right on the dirt. It’s true. Yesterday was a whirlwind—the bear, making up with my main man, saying goodbye to Harper and Evan. I’d gotten weepy on my other best friend here as we prepared to part ways, surprising us both with the level of emotion. She’d patted me awkwardly on the back. “My aunt lives in Boston. I will definitely see you again,” she’d said. “Now go get the rest of your HEA.”
She and Evan left as good friends too, sharing with Burke Forrester and the cameras that they plan to do more of the AT together in the not-too-distant future.
In the present, Finn gives me a saucy little grin and wink that has my stomach doing a somersault. We start what is sure to be a fast-paced, chaotic day with the most peaceful final morning of camping that I could imagine. Finn makes us oatmeal and hot tea with the camp stove and insists he didn’t do any dark magic to get it working. I’m not convinced. We both go to get ready, and by the time I’m back, he has our whole campsite packed up. Leaving no trace, like we were never here at all. I’m grateful for his effort, of course, but also a little sad, seeing how quickly it can all be packed away, swept from existence. I don’t want the same to happen to us at the end of filming.
But he continues to reassure me through his actions and words that this relationship has staying power. His thumb sweeps across the back of my hand as he holds it, both of us walking with packs on to the checkpoint from last night by the designated arrival time. We click on our GoPros for the hike, and I take mine out of its holster to film the two of us together for potentially the last time. The two teams in the final challenge and episode are usually covered the whole way by camera operators.
“Good morning, adventure lovers,” I begin, then hold up our linked hands for the viewing public, “from these adventurous lovers!”
Finn lets out a choked laugh, and I snicker. “Excuse him, he’s allergic to cuteness. We’re gonna have to get him some antihistamines, though, because I simply have no intentions of stopping!”
“I— You—” Finn sighs with a weary shake of his head. “Carry on, I guess.”
As if I needed his permission. I smile into the camera. “You might have noticed Finn and I soft launching our coupledom at the checkpoint yesterday, what with the hand-holding. But Houston, we are ready to hard launch this sucker. Three, two, one, blast off and all that.”